Line #86 Main/ComputerVirusesAreComputerIllnesses


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3	%% The examples section has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings.
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7	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gtihyoihoyiolhyi.png]]]]
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9	->''"Yes, I feel a tad warm. Perhaps I do have a virus."''
10	-->-- '''Robot Jones''', ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones''
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12	Fictional malware can be difficult to write accurately to its [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware real-life counterpart]] in a comedic cartoon setting while staying entertaining, but most of the time [[RuleOfFunny it's not accuracy these writers care about]]. Sometimes malware wipes out entire computer systems overnight, causes machines to malfunction comically or even fatally (neither of which are '''''too''''' far from reality), [[KillerRobot turns robots evil]], and then sometimes makes robots sick, [[DoubleMeaning taking the "virus" in "computer virus" literally]] and being what this trope is about.
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14	This (typically comedic) trope is far more prevalent in media aimed towards a younger audience, especially WesternAnimation. It started out as an overused {{Pun}}, but has somewhat managed to evolve into its own thing over time. Two examples are as a way to justify giving robots their own {{sick episode}}s or lightheartedly teaching children about malware.
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16	Normally, Computer Viruses Are Computer Illnesses refers to when malware, as stated previously, causes an A.I. or other type of machine to show human-like symptoms of illness, but also refers to when [[ContagiousAI personified computer viruses]] appear sickly and when computer viruses are fixed similarly to how a fictional human illness would be cured such as [[FindTheCure finding a cure]] and [[FantasticVoyagePlot going inside the robot]] to eradicate the virus manually (especially if the virus has the physical appearance of MonstrousGerms) rather than just calling someone from I.T. to fix it.
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18	A subtrope to ComputerVirus. Not to be confused with MalfunctionMalady. For A.I., cyborgs or other machines having software problems in general, see GlitchEpisode. For when human-like traits are applied to a mechanical character ''without explanation'', see ForgotHeWasARobot.
19	----
20	!!Examples:
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Animation]]
24	* ''Animation/VirTheRobotBoy'': In "Powerless Vir", Mad Max infects Vir with a computer virus that makes him weak and unable to use his robot powers.
25	[[/folder]]
26
27	[[folder:Comic Books]]
28	* ''ComicBook/{{Futurama}}'': {{Parodied\|Trope}} in the strip "Night of the Automated Dead". Bender is tasked with sending a large order of "[[SoupIsMedicine robot chicken soup]]" to Chapek 9, a robot populated planet, as it is experiencing a robo-cold pandemic. Bender then [[GettingSickDeliberately gets the idea to become infected]] (by getting the inhabitants to sneeze on him) in order to get sick days off work, but instead of making him sick, it mutates and causes the RoboticUndead after Scruffy unknowingly dumps Bender's contaminated oil into a robot graveyard.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Fan Works]]
32	* Many ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'' fanfics feature an android (usually Connor) getting sick from a computer virus.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
36	* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'': The computer viruses from the piracy app have the physical appearance of real viruses and tend to sneeze frequently.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]
40	* {{Discussed\|Trope}} in ''Film/{{Flubber}}''; Dr. Brainard asks his RobotBuddy Weebo why his wedding date disappeared from her calendar, causing him to risk missing it, then wonders if she's caught a virus. She admits she's been feeling a little feverish, and he feels her face and says, "You ''are'' a little hot." [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Actually]], Weebo deleted the entry herself because she's in love with him and is trying to scuttle the wedding.]]
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Literature]]
44	* ''Literature/SnowCrash'' plays with this; the titular virus is transmittable through TheMetaverse, but seemingly only affects humans, causing people infected by it to speak in tongues. In the end, however, it is a computer virus, [[spoiler:and when the BigBad attempts to distribute it throughout the Metaverse, Hiro hijacks it with an advertisement for an antivirus program he invented to combat it]].
45	* In the Pocket Books ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Boogeymen'', the ''Enterprise'''s computer gets infected with an aggressive computer virus, which is passed on to Data during a diagnostic. He promptly develops a feeling of weakness and fatigue, as well as experiencing pain for the first time, remarking that his head and limbs are "throbbing in a most unpleasant way." Dr. Crusher expressly compares his condition to the flu.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
49	* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' has a non-virus example. The Doctor gets annoyed with the crew whining over minor illnesses, but Kes tells him he can't judge since he's incapable of getting sick. To teach the crew a lesson, he programs himself to experience flu-like symptoms to show how well he will be able to handle it. Kes secretly changes the program to keep him sick longer than he anticipated, which makes him panic, believing something is wrong with his program.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Music]]
53	* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's song "Virus Alert" spoofs this concept, with the 'stinky cheese' virus being capable of doing things like freezing your computer, stealing your identity or erasing data... but it's also capable of neutering your pets, [[BestialityIsDepraved making you attracted to sheep]], changing your legal name, melting your face, or causing a [[NegativeSpaceWedgie rift in time and space]] that litters the area with Twinkie wrappers. The only way to deal with it, according to the song?
54	-->Turn off your computer and make sure it powers down,\
55	Drop it in a forty-three-foot hole in the ground,\
56	Bury it completely rocks and boulders should be fine,\
57	[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Then burn all the clothes you may have worn any time you were online!]]
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Video Games]]
61	* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'': Virovirokun is an enemy found in chapter two that is based on a computer virus. They appear as sickly imps made from abstract shapes and require tender care in order to recruit them.
62	* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'': Viruses can spread among robots, with the same mechanism as human plagues.
63	* The plot of ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'' revolves around [[FindTheCure finding a cure]] for a computer virus called Roboenza, which causes robots to have flu-like symptoms and eventually go rogue. {{Justified\|Trope}}, as Dr. Wily programmed the virus to have this effect.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Web Animation]]
67	* ''Website/HectorsWorld'': The episode about pop-up ads says that clicking on pop-up ads could make your computer "sick" with viruses, and we see an image of a computer sneezing and with a fever.
68	* ''[[https://youtu.be/6UXGh0zutjo?si=9dtbnfuhN3oHNv_T Reality Bytes]]'': The first official episode titled "Virus Alert" features Petey, an anthropomorphic desktop computer, downloading a crappy game from a dubious website and getting a virus from it. He gets bags under his eyes and vomits binary code at one point. His friends later [[FantasticVoyagePlot go inside of him]] to eradicate it.
69	* ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'': In the season 2 bit "Computer Virus", Ozpin, Port, Oobleck, and Winter are confused as to what could've given their computer a virus, but then Penny walks by and sneezes, causing pop-ups to appear on the screen.
70	* ''WebAnimation/TheTrashPack'': In the episode "Snot My Problem", Scummy Screen, a living busted computer, ends up with a virus downloaded onto him, due to Trash-a-Pillar clicking a link that said to "download this virus to win a million dollars" ([[ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime it seemed like a good deal at the time]] for the ''both'' of them). It leaves Scummy weak and sickly, with his complexion going pale and him sneezing out buckets of snot.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Webcomics]]
74	* ''Webcomic/ThePetriDish'': One arc involves Thaddeus getting into legal trouble after he engineers a computer virus that makes computers throw up (he initially did it as {{revenge}} when another scientist deliberately made [[{{Cyborg}} Bob]] malfunction).
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77	[[folder:Websites]]
78	* The ''Website/SCPFoundation'' tale [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/excerpts-from-training-seminars-for-lesser-known-foundation Excerpts from Training Seminars for Lesser-Known Foundation Careers]] plays with this in the 'Computational Epidemiologist' section, explaining that there are things called 'Organic Interface Viruses' which are capable of using humans as carriers between computers, including one described as giving your computer "the digital equivalent of herpes". The [=OIVs=] also sometimes mutate to infect their human carriers; the result of these infections is described as such:
79	-->"...imagine the data structure of a computer trying to impose itself on a human brain. It's... not pretty. Imagine your brain, replaced with a can of Campbell's chunky soup. Now imagine that can being dumped into the Marianas Trench, and bursting under the pressure.\
80	It's not at all like that. It's worse because a soup can in your head will kill you. Most victims of mutated [=OIVs=] actually survive."
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Western Animation]]
84	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': In "[[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS6E30TheBuddy The Buddy]]", Anais and Jamie are tasked with finding out who gave all the library computers a virus. As seen in the above image, the computers have a [[GreenAroundTheGills green gradient]], are wearing ice packs, sweating, and are surrounded by used tissues. However, [[RobotKid Bobert]], who is also infected, does not display these symptoms whatsoever.
85	* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': In "[[Recap/AquaTeenHungerForceS12E1Shaketopia Shaketopia]]", Frylock gives all the Glorfinoids within the virtual world gifts that have been implanted with a computer virus, causing them to develop an illness and ExhaustedEyebags before they explode and subsequently destroy the virtual reality.
86	* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': In the episode "Hard Drive Courage", Courage accidentally downloads a virus and when Muriel goes into the attic, she is [[BodyUploading sucked into the computer, forcing Courage to go after her]], where it turns out the virus has a cold and intended to use Muriel as a new motherboard until he recovers. Courage then cures him by feeding him Muriel's vinegar gelatin.
87	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': In "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E11MarsUniversity Mars University]]", Bender says that he should take the members of Robot House, the robot fraternity, to Tijuana so that [[NerdsAreVirgins Fatbot can lose his virginity]]. In the [[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue epilogue]], it's stated that Bender took the Robot House members to Tijuana, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything where Fatbot got infected by a computer virus and had to be rebooted]].
88	* ''WesternAnimation/RobTheRobot'': In "[[Recap/RobTheRobotS1E51SpaceVirusBlues Space Virus Blues]]", TK, Orbit, and Rob are infected with the blue space virus, which causes TK and Rob to sneeze and Orbit to jumble his words. It is implied to be a computer virus as it only affects robots and is cured using an antivirus program by the robot doctor.
89	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS11E23AppointmentTVKarensVirus Karen's Virus]]", Karen gets a virus from one of her computer friends, which causes her to sneeze, become delirious and later start to break down. When [=SpongeBob=] goes inside her to exterminate it, it is a real virus.
90	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': The episode "[[Recap/TeenTitansS3E4Crash Crash]]" focuses on Cyborg getting a computer virus after Beast Boy mistakenly inserts a disk containing a bootleg video game into his recharging station instead of his computer, causing him to hallucinate and become an ExtremeOmnivore. The Titans are then forced to form an alliance with Gizmo of the Hive Five in order to [[FantasticVoyagePlot go inside Cyborg]] and save him. The virus has the appearance of [[MonstrousGerms demonic bacteriophages]].
91	* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'':
92	** In the ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' episode "[[Recap/BeastWarsS1E22TheLowRoad The Low Road]]", Tarantulas infects Rhinox with an energon discharge virus, which causes him to literally sneeze himself to death. Inverted when Optimus Primal cures him using a counter-virus.
93	** PlayedForDrama in the ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' episode "[[Recap/TransformersPrimeS1E13SickMind Sick Mind]]"; Optimus Prime is infected with an engineered bioweapon called "cybonic plague", which he caught after entering an autobot plague ship. Bumblebee is then sent to obtain the cure from Megatron's mind. It isn't made abundantly clear whether this is a computer virus.
94	* ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones'': Played completely straight in the episode "Sickness". The Yogmans prank Robot Jones by inserting a virus-filled floppy disk into him while he's in sleep mode and he becomes very ill.
95	[[/folder]]

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